Summer is winding down and before too long we’ll be running into each other at the rink. I hope you've had an enjoyable and safe summer. Hopefully your Knight has had an opportunity to get their hockey legs going and has been working on their shooting and stick handling drills. The more we can encourage our youth hockey players to continue working on their skills, the better off our teams will be in the long run.

Registration dates will be coming up this month and September. Encourage someone you know to give Irondale Youth Hockey a try. Sometime word-of-mouth is the most effective way to gain new members and promote our program. And, if you are aware of anybody interested in coaching, especially any non-parent coaches, please email me or one of the coordinators. A notice will be forthcoming soon for those interested in coaching and the interview process.

If you have any equipment your son or daughter has outgrown, please consider donating it to another Knight. Anything we can do to keep costs down -- especially to new skaters -- will keep more kids in the program and make our association stronger. There will be more information to come for those interested in donating.

Again, this is your association. Let's do everything to make IYHA a well-run, positive and competitive association. As indicated in last month's newsletter, we're still looking for a few more volunteers for the some of the association committees.

That’s all for now,

Tom

From Treasurer (Tom O’Keefe):

Irondale Youth Hockey – How much will it cost in 2007-08?

Volunteer to keep costs low

The Irondale Youth Hockey Association (IYHA) tries to keep the cost of hockey participation affordable while also ensuring that the kids participating get the ice time and the skills training necessary to develop and compete. To keep costs low, many, many hours of volunteer time are donated to the cause. Team coaches, managers and treasurers are all volunteers. The association board members volunteer the time necessary to do those jobs, which includes much more than the monthly meetings. We need parents to volunteer for these jobs and for help running our tournaments and other fund-raising and organizing activities. This year we are requiring a deposit check, given at the time of registration, which will be returned (or shredded) if a minimum number of volunteer hours are worked.

Participate in Association Fund-raising Activities

We also try to keep families costs low by extensive fund-raising. Each member of our association belongs to the Lake Region Hockey Association which runs charitable gambling operations at local establishments and makes contributions to youth hockey associations and other youth sports activities. Last year Lake Region Hockey contributed $20,500 to IYHA which reduced each participant’s cost by over $80. The tournaments run by IYHA and the Mounds View Youth Hockey Association also raise significant funds. These tournament profits raised over $22,000 last year, reducing each IYHA participant’s cost by over $90. Other fundraising and donations to IYHA totaled over $5000.

Organize and Participate in Team Fund-raising Activities

The individual teams formed within IYHA also do their own fund-raising. The result of these efforts varied significantly from team to team depending mostly on the initiative of the team parents and coaches. The amounts raised last season varied from less than one hundred to several thousand dollars.

What are we Paying For

The primary expense in the cost of youth hockey is ice time, for the coming year it is expected to range in cost from $150 to $180 per hour depending on the rink and the time of year. Almost 75% of the cost of youth hockey paid to the association is attributable to ice time. Other costs include game referees, equipment, clinic instructors and fees paid to USA Hockey, MN Hockey, District 1 and various expenses of running a youth hockey association the largest of which is the approximately $3000 we pay for auditing services.

What will it Cost this Year

The following table includes estimated costs of play at the different levels within IYHA. The IYHA cost is billed to the teams for ice time, association fees, tournaments paid for by the association, clinic costs and administrative expenses. The Team Cost includes team parties, sweatshirts or warm-up suits, extra scrimmages or tournaments, and other things which may be arranged for by the individual teams. These do not include deductions for team fundraising activities. Nor do they include the cost of the skates, sticks and other equipment parents furnish for their children. IYHA does maintain an inventory of used, donated equipment available upon request to our equipment manager. These costs also do not include the cost of attending tournaments, which for out of town tournaments would include hotels and meals.

Level

Est. IYHA Cost per Player

Est. Add’l Team Cost per Player

Mini-mite, C Mite, U8

$50-300

$10-20

A & B Mite

$300-600

$20-50

U10

$700-800

$30-50

U12

$900-1000

$30-50

Squirt

$700-900

$30-60

Peewee

$750-1000

$30-100

Bantam

$1000-1600

$100-400

Help for Families in Need

IYHA and Lake Region both have a limited amount of funding for families who need help.

If you have any questions about IYHA finances please do not hesitate to send me an e-mail with your question or a good time for me to call you. Tom O’Keefe – IYHA Treasurer –

From Boy’s Coordinator (Mark Mohar):

Attention All Coaches

We are looking for coaches at all levels for the upcoming hockey season. (Parent and non-Parent) If you are interested in coaching a team this season, please contact:

Boys Program:

Boy's Program Coordinator, Mark Mohar at 651-639-1908 or by email at
.

Coaching interviews will be held in August (for the Boys program).

Girls Program:

Girls Program Coordinator, Mike Nundahl at 651-633-8287 or by email at .

Initiation Program:

Initiation Program Coordinator, Bob Gabler at 651-697-4708 or by email at

Note: Returning players MUST register in August! The September registration is for new players only!

Totem Pole Park:

1111 Foss Road in New Brighton

See website for directions and additional information.

An exciting season is around the corner........

IYHA Board Meetings are open meetings.

Please feel free to come to the meetings. If you wish to have a copy of any information which is distributed at any meeting, please email or call Jean and it will be mailed to you. Upcoming dates for 2007 Board meetings are the

third Thursday of every month at 6:30 p.m. Our meetings are held at the New Brighton Family Service Center.

Meetings in 2007: September 20, October 18 (this date may change), November 15, December 20.

NOTE: If you wish to be on the agenda for the meeting, please contact the IYHA President.

Lake Region Board Meetings:

Lake Region Hockey meetings are open meetings. Contact Jeanne Falconer for dates and times of the next meetings.

Sponsorships:

Sponsors for teams are listed below. This part of the newsletter will continue throughout the rest of the IYHA season. Please notify Jean Aukee of any additions or corrections. (Please forward information about websites and addresses, etc.) Many thanks to our sponsors!

a.Anticipated Number of Teams and Anticipated Level of Play – belongs in the boys/girls coordinator camp and group of coaches or player development – input from members gladly accepted – can’t discuss it all the time – everyone will never be happy – Torri – website – when will decision be made? Dependent on Edison – make sure Torri knows so she can update the Website – District 1 needs to know by 8-1-07 – Per Tom L, per Tom Mickus – September is final deadline – idea/proposal by 8-1-07

b.Ice Review – SSR – Shoreview – Ramsey County – spoke with Augsburg – won’t see for 2 weeks – MIA – 2nd week in August – goal for total hours? – about the same as last year – 12 hours for week days and 16 – 20 for weekends – trying to be more creative – dependent on other week day hours we can get from other rinks – weekend hours are easier to get

c.Volunteer Commitment Program – need to get more help – Ray mentioned what DIST10 – SLP did last year - $250 – pay ahead and don’t get back if don’t do hours – don’t cash checks – can we earmark some of this money toward scholarships for kids who can’t afford to play hockey – Bob wants to make initiation kids play free – working on something already – we need to pick a dollar amount to charge people and define what is a consider volunteer duty – is it per family or per parent – does the number change dependent on how many kids are in the program – mite level – lower dollar amount compared to bantams? No. Always need the tournament volunteers - $150 per family – as a start this year – coaching, team managers, board members counts as volunteer hours – don’t say exempt – need a volunteer coordinator to monitor. Motion CD – at registration all members will write a separate check for $150 – it will not be cashed until end of year if 6 hours (this number may change – the board will discuss it at the next meeting) not completed by end of season – one check per family – Jackie – definite end date – April 15th – hours will be submitted to team manager and then submitted to volunteer coordinator – Who would like to do this? TO – second – all approved – motion carried. Will be added to registration form.

(Dale stopped in with Dilly Bars for Jean’s birthday.)

d.Fundraising – Rich Sonterre and Jean Aukee – Tom L proposing we have town hall meeting – Jean will send out an email to form a fundraising committee – Knight fund – help kids pay ice bills – 3 to 5 people – Mark R – major sponsor – name on jerseys? – Wells Fargo gives to organizations – USA hockey or MN hockey rules on what can be on jerseys – Fundraising committee needs to communicate with board – $ for kids, individual team vs whole pot – Jerseys $75 each – existing ones are 7 years old – keep in the community – need commitment by August 1st – Jean send out email – reply back to me – 1st 5 to reply get to do it. Let the committees make some decisions that we are discussing – player level, team level, and assn level ideas – Wild games or Vikings games can earn money too – who has them – Cheryl? Tom O concerned with team level fundraising – bookkeeping issues – accounting issues – opportunity for fraud – need to have guidelines – individual teams can’t do their own thing. Any fundraiser should go thru this new committee and be brought to the board

President: Tom Lucarelli. – spoke with Tom M – next presidents meeting will be in September – discussed Edison kids – they cannot go to Brooklyn Park – they have to stay in DIST1 – need to handout the Irondale handbook after it is updated – should be sent out at registration – Mark Rupp will help review – Mark knows where it is - electronically sent out to members – guidelines surrounding things like practices

Vice President: Cheryl Mason. – Not present – not from Cheryl but per Jeanne – Peter Ruppert came to Lake Region meeting after over – Cheryl did spreadsheet – want girls in SSR tournament – January possibly – all dependent on availability of ice – Thanksgiving weekend - 8 levels – January – 4 levels – been going on for 7 years – Title 9 – discrimination – put it in Let’s Play Hockey – girls should be included – who on tournament committee – why Junior B listed and not girls? – we should be fair to all involved in this association – girls should have a home tournament that their families can come too – should Mike N as girls coordinator do something – need to get it in publication – Let’s Play Hockey – Cheryl?

Secretary: Jean Aukee. – need input for newsletter by 1st of month

Treasurer: Tom O’Keefe. – budget handout – no feedback from board members – Mark has a hardcopy budget for Tom O – anything else from other board members? Jackie – Ramsey county going up $5 – per Tom O it is increased and remember we had $7000 of unused from last year – 2 reimbursement requests from goalies for goalie school – ½ up to $250 Discussion about possible change in that policy? Goalie clinic not being utilized – change policy now? How affect current goalies that may be signed up for other clinics – 12 or 13 signed up for our clinic – we are paying $1000’s for our clinic – last year only 3 requests for $ - cheaper option – goal of goalie clinic is to get everyone on the same page – HS goalie coach is there – consistency issue – more kids signed up last year than this year – 21 – we need more goalies – how do we get bodies? Girls need goalies – boys don’t necessarily – need a budget approval? Mark M – separate handout – reviewed his items – Mark M will be facilitator for tryouts – safer – will try this year to get outside evaluators – last year some just didn’t show up – Pat Leary was the only one paid – tryout jerseys/”pinnies” – new – do reversibles – 1 to 99 in one color – may change color but will always be your number – non parent coach mileage – 3 ½ last year – s/b about the same this year – cap? See notes on handout – Ray clarifying girls that didn’t try out – each player got $90 reimbursement from tournament – need non parent coaches – paid 44 ½ cents per mile – now 48 ½ cents per mile – Tom O looking for a motion to approve budget with the changes noted – JF motion to approve – JR second – favor – motion carried – still hasn’t received checkbooks from 3 persons – left messages – what do? What do with kids that maybe haven’t paid for last year (or year before)? Can they register this year? Per Jeanne the rule is if you didn’t pay you can’t register – but if others paid should they get to register? Do bylaws reference this? No – need to keep kids in program – need to raise money to help others – must not let player play if money isn’t paid. Have ice time be prepaid? If don’t pay for that month – don’t play that month.

1 - U12B, 17 returning players, 1 potential new player. 3 players from last season’s U12A team and 7 from last season’s U12B team, 7 moving up from U10.

Last years U12A and some of the U12B have requested an opportunity to play on an “A” team this year. I’m still looking for options. MV has enough girls, SLP is playing B level. A D1 team may be an option and I’m looking at Brooklyn Park.

? - U14, we have 22 players eligible at this level. 8 will play HS, 5 U14, 9 undecided.

If we had a goalie at the U14 level Irondale could field a team by pulling up some of the U12’s.

MV is looking for 5-7 girls to fill out their U14 roster. SLP is unsure if they will field a team or co-op with someone from their district, will wait till registration.

MV has offered to combine players at U8 level. It would provide enough girls to make teams by ability so they can play controlled scrimmages against other associations. I will meet with MV girl’s coordinator to discuss further.

General Questions:

We will not be having any girl brackets for our Super Rink Tournaments?

Will we have a working meeting to revise registration form/documents?

If Jackie asks - The dates for warm ups she provided earlier are fine.

Initiation Program Coordinator: Bob Gabler. – Not present

Boys Program Coordinator: Mark Mohar. – met with 12 Edison parents last Monday night – he made a presentation – how we operate – boys and girls – 1 hour – typical questions – Cost? Volunteer program? Southwest president gave presentation – looks like Edison will let each kid decide – District should tell them where they need to play – Chris will bring up on the 13th at District meeting – list of players that are interested (5 bantams 5 peewees 3 squirts) – means 2 bantam teams - 39 (5 goalies), 3 peewee teams 39 (5 goalies), 3 squirt teams 45 – not including Edison kids – Pat Leary 80-90 % of kids we would get – Tom L and Pat Leary need to discuss – VFW meeting on July 31st – all signs show we are in

District Representative: Chris Drews. – talked about finding district secretary and tournament volunteer – was given one name – need 2 volunteers before August 13th – addsomething in the fundraising email that Jean will send out – would work towards volunteer hours – Chris will discuss the Edison issue with the district too

Registration Coordinator: Jeanne Falconer. – we have to decide the cost of what we need to charge – dates on handout from last year - 1st Tues August 7th or Wed August 8th – September 10th warm-ups start for boys – do online – 13th new skaters only - $5 lake region fee the same – please read before registering – copy of birth certificate – instructions – USA hockey can do now – send to Jeanne right from their website – fees did not change – suggestions for registration form – lowered age down to 4 – need a cost – how many warm-ups/tryouts – Girls? Ice? Evaluators? Use hours towards team instead of all warm-ups – estimate – per Tom O costs do come out to be accurate whether it is warm ups or practice for team – where have registration? Can’t use Freedom – all should be at same place – Sunny Square – Totem – parades – 1st one is August 3rd – St Anthony August 9th – stockyard days – August 19th – Mounds View - board members need to have materials prepared to share at registration – come early and come prepared – answer questions – forms are online and can be printed and mailed to Jeanne via PO box – add to form $150 for volunteer deposit – please read privacy statement and all registration forms will be on website – Jeanne needs the costs this week – estimate dependent on last year – bantams will cost more and won’t be on teams until end of Oct – will all be covered up front (Sept/Oct ice) – how advertise registration? Chris – yard signs - $1.43 - $500 available per district – depends on size, number of colors - what say? Irondale Youth Hockey – see website – Registering now – ads in Bulletin or Sun Focus – flyers for schools – open houses/send home with kids – need promotional flyer – Cheryl has – need flyers for NBFSC – Beisswengers – add marketing volunteers to email Jean going to send out

Equipment Manager: Tom Johnson. – got socks ordered and initiation jerseys – still need more space for equipment – Tom L do at his work? – has extra socks – bring to registration – old equipment should be brought to registration

Standing Reports:

Player and Coach Development: Mark Mohar – goalie clinic going on

Lake Region: Jeanne Falconer. – still no money – hit hard with taxes – next couple months should be tax free and hopefully make some money – Roberts is closed – Lions moved out of Mermaid – part or all of Mermaid sold? Hope to have some money in the next couple months – a lot of charitable organizations are borrowing money

No additional business.

October meeting should be changed because that Thursday is MEA weekend – Jean talk to Jeanne at NBFSC – Tuesday before?

Would you like to have something published in the newsletter? Please contact Jean Aukee. Would you like something on the Web Site? Contact Torri Johnson at
Information you share is helpful in keeping our members up to date about activities of the Irondale Youth Hockey Association! (The deadline for the next month’s newsletter is the first of each month.) Thank you!